Research commissioned by Vuelio, the political and media software provider, has found that MPs believe social media has a negative impact on politics, with four in five (81%) of the 137 MPs surveyed believing public attitudes towards politicians have been changed for the worse as a result of social media.
- According to MPs, there are specific ways in which social media has damaged public engagement. Over three quarters (79%) believe social media has made it difficult for the public to source information from trustworthy sources and 78% believe it leads to people being overloaded with information.
- This impacts policy making, with two in five (42%) MPs believing social media has changed the policy making process for the worse, and a third (36%) believe it has changed public understanding of policy for the worse.
- While MPs believe, on balance, that social media has had negative impact on politics, they do recognise some positives.
- Almost half (47%) of MPs say it has improved the transparency of politics and around two in five (44%) say it has improved engagement between politicians and the public.
Date Published: 11/09/2019
Categories: Policy Makers | Social | Technology & Telecoms
Client: Vuelio
Methodology
ComRes interviewed 137 MPs online or by self-completion paper survey between 11th June and 12th August 2019. Data were weighted to be representative of the House of Commons by party, region and length of service. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.